Fingertip Feedback with CyberForce.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)

Looking eerily like some man/machine merger of the future, Virtual Technologies' new whole-hand force-feedback device offers a high degree of interactivity for immersive environments. The CyberForce, which is aimed primarily at product designers working with CAD models, consists of a glove that provides tactile input for each finger and a mechanical arm attached to the glove that provides feedback to a user's hand, wrist, and arm. Using CyberForce in conjunction with SimStudio, the company's simulation software, designers can "handle" virtual products--turning knobs, screwing wingnuts into place, even slamming car doors.

Virtual Technologies is a subsidiary of Immersion Corp., a developer of a variety of haptic devices that are marketed by other companies. According to Bruce Schena, Immersion's CTO, CyberForce represents a breakthrough in commercial haptics technology both because ...